Rufus Alonzo Dickinson, better known to his friends as "Dick" or "Lonnie," was born in Bowdoinham, on November 18, 1866, the son of Rufus H. and Mary L. Hunt Dickinson. His youth and early married life was spent on the farm where he was born. Situated on the White Road, almost directly opposite the Gray Cross Road Turn, this farmstand burned in the early 1930's.

As a young man, he worked for a number of years with the ice-cutting business kept cows and sold milk in the village, ran a grist mill for a time and sold insurance as a sideline. In 1890 he married Carrie Evelyn Tarr of Bowdoin.

A few years later he sold his farm on the White Road and moved to the McFarland farm on the Fisher Road, now the home of Mrs. Margaret Gile.

He always took a keen interest in town affairs and in 1905 was elected Road Commissioner, a position he held until 1920. He also served on the board of selectmen, filling the post of chairman from 1918 until 1926.

In 1909, he moved his family from the Fisher Road to the village and in September of that year he purchased the stock of the General Store from Stone and Plummer. This business was located on the ground floor of the Masonic building, on the southeast corner of Bridge and Main Streets, and was formerly operated by William H. Gould, father of Mrs. Caleb Mitchell.

Mr. Dickinson continued business in that store for thirty years, then he purchased the building across the street and moved his stock there. That building, still Dickinson's Store, was the office of William B. Kendall and also at one time housed a barber shop, the Post Office and an insurance office.

Upon his retirement in 1959, "Dick" had conducted his business for exactly fifty years, most of those years on a seven-days-a-week basis, since his store sold, and still sells, Sunday papers.

Mr. Dickinson was a cheerful, kind and generous man and many families in town were given a helping hand when the going was rough. In all the years he tended store, he was never too busy to give attentive assistance to the small children who came in to make an investment in penny candy, of which he always kept a good assortment. After his retirement, he kept alert and was always pleased to see the many friends who called on him to talk politics, town affairs or old times.

R. A. Dickinson passed away at his home on Main Street, on March 16, 1960, at the age of 93. His wife having passed away in 1943, he is survived by two daughters, Dorothy Dickinson, proprietor of Dickinson's store and Mrs. Elsie Rendall, who resides in Augusta.

Bicentennial Booklet 1962